/\ strange viewpoint. both are good bikes, essentially pretty similar in frame construction and quality, though somewhat different in geometry. big difference is that iros are made by a small producer who cares a great deal about cycling, whereas bianchi is a large operation without (presumably) the same degree of customer care, at least at the non reparto corse level.

still i've never heard anything first-hand about parts failure on a pista, or finish problems, though people have posted the usual "some guy i heard about was just riding along when the chrome exploded," or "my friends' was sitting in the garage when the spokes started to self-destruct" etc.

both frames are tig welded in taiwan. this is normal at this price range, across all disciplines of cycling. there are some perfectly good factories in taiwan (pacific being one of them — not the chainstore bike company but a frame builder in taiwain that bulds frames for a lot of the small batch indies like iro and .243 racing), and if you're not willing or able to pay top dollar for a new american-built frame you're going to be riding a taiwain-built product. doesn't mean it's going to fail and you're gonna need dental work bla bla bla. i rode to work on my taiwan-built bike and i'm typing this on my taiwan-built mac and i'm doin jes' fine on both.

iro's probably better equipped dollar for dollar. personally i'm not a fan of deep vs but they're undoubtedly a good street rim. iro/formula hubs are probably better than the stock bianchis, although i've put a good couple of thousand miles on mine, skip/skidding away merrily, even crashing down a set of stairs that fuxored my rims and no problems there. perhaps if they weren't just OEM and they actually sold em as the perfectly serviceable and cheap discount hub set the are they'd be better regarded.

as for the rest it's apples vs apples (the iro has a slightly less unattractive stock fork), and the only choice is really polished vs black.

they feel quite different though. i've ridden both, and there's a distinct variation in handle, as you'd expect from bikes with different headtube angles.

not quite sure how bianchi have jumped the shark, unless you mean with the finish. but unless you mean that iro will suddenly come in bright pink only not sure how they're going to jump the shark. the phrase doesn't really apply, and what i think you mean is that Pistas ceased being "cool" and IROs will too. hardly a criteria upon which to judge a bike.

basically here's the nut: both bikes give you a tremendous amount of bang for the buck. the bp gives you the most trackish off-the-peg bike, and the IRO gives you probably the best build, and definitely the satisfaction of knowing you're supporting a small business and if you're nyc then a local one too. edit: not quite as local - see below

on that note, as far as trendiness goes, if you do live in nyc you'll see five iros for every bianchi pista.